A Starless Night
by Aiko Isari
Summary: [02/Dawn/Dusk] - Miyako already has four siblings. She supposes a fifth can't hurt. Sayo on the other hand was an orphan - until she fell into the Inoue family. As for the rest of Miyako's siblings, they were fine being perfectly ordinary until there's suddenly too many digimon for two girls to handle. And a mystery on top of that!
1. Chapter 1

_Warning for trauma, actions harmful o minors, non graphic violence, implied past death._

* * *

 _Chapter One - Yuri (Lillies)_

Inoue Miyako rubbed her amber eyes, glass of milk and tea cookies in hand, as she left the kitchen. Poromon had just had to take advantage of her late night bathroom run to get a snack. She was lucky there were sugar cookies in the house that her brother hadn't scarfed down yet. She rubbed her eyes again and yawned, making it back to her room.

It was just another night in the Inoue household.

She paused midstep, head tilting despite itself to look at the sleeping bag occupying a few squares of her floor. Purple hair poked out of the comforter, rising and falling with the slowness of feigned sleep.

Miyako paused and almost knelt to look. She settled for placing the warm milk mug and its comforting steam by her head, then tiptoed back to bed. She was suddenly wide awake again. Only when she saw the pale hand loop around the mug, did Miyako close her eyes and turn over, guilt in her stomach.

In a way, this was the Digital World she loved at work. Sometimes being a hero had consequences.

This was the world's way of making them pay for it.

* * *

Two months before, with the Digital World healing steadily and its Chosen Ones hard at work at repairing their lives, someone threw a stone.

It broke the gymnasium window and almost hit Takaishi Takeru on the leg. The room erupted with shouts and the coach ran to the window. Takeru, more slowly, hesitated, like there was a weight on his chest that had only just appeared. He moved over to look, curiosity outweighing fear, and there was a salaryman with another stone in hand.

"Give back my wife," he shouted. "Tell those monsters to _give back my wife!"_

The raw emotion made Takeru stumble back, which was just as well. The other stone nearly hit him in the face.

The screaming man was hurried away, tidied up like an unhappy accident. But Takeru looked up at Patamon, watching him shrink away in his corner.

Then, like an avalanche, it all tumbled down.

Jun was followed home after a Kapurimon appeared in her lunchroom, leading to Daisuke guarding her like a somehow terrifying puppy. Many Odaiba Elementary shoe lockers were vandalized. Hikari was attacked by middle schoolers on her way to class, leaving Tailmon no choice but to scare them off. Miyako came home to her parents' store being broken into and drove them out with her duffel bag and a police call.

Help always came, though more reluctant as times went on. Newspapers spread quiet rumors and the television made reports of monster attacks that weren't there.

Then, Koushiro got an email from a government official.

* * *

"So to sum it up," Taichi scratched his head and taking his seventh cookie. "They want reparations… from _us?"_

Koushiro nodded, looking around the room at the group who had managed to gather. "In some manner, yes. The idea is that we, or the Digimon, are the cause of all this and that the events since 1999 are, to the public, our responsibility."

"But we made things right!" Daisuke's protest beat Miyako's by a hair and she shut her mouth, because two people shouting was never good. "And we're all kids! We can't get part time jobs yet or go rebuild houses!" He huffed, sitting back next to Hikari, who patted his shoulder in solemn understanding. "I'm pretty sure that's like: child labor or something too!"

"People died or were injured because of the Digimon," shHikari said before anyone else could interject, voice tired and wan. Yamato touched his neck almost discreetly, but Miyako's eyes were flickering to everyone at once. "Because of enemy ones yes, but to people like this, they're all the same."

Tailmon made a face, scratching a paw. "Digimon can think that way as well."

"That's _stupid_." Daisuke shook his head, scratching Chibimon behind an ear. " _I_ was stuck with Vamdemon. My whole _family_ was attacked by Vamdemon. If it weren't for Taichi-senpai and everyone else, we would be dead!"

"But people need a scapegoat." Ken looked up at Koushiro as he spoke, hands folded and eyes probably twenty years from now. "Izumi-san, what did they ask for?"

Koushiro let out a sigh. "Community service, agreement to disclose information to the government about Digimon and their world. They want access as well, and we can't grant them that. Not even Gennai will, I imagine. Assistance to suffering families and…" He swallowed, shifting slightly in his decrepit chair. "Adoption of a child orphaned in BelialVamdemon's attack, for those who can afford it. Those were the first suggestions they offered."

The room went silent. Even the Digimon stopped talking, but more out of confusion than anything else.

It was something they had all thought about, some more than others. There had been blackouts, hospital attacks, destroyed buildings, fires. The Digimon had caused humans a lot of pain. People had to have died. But how was it their fault? Because they had been chased? Because they had fought back? Why was that their responsibility?

Or because like Ken said, they were scapegoats, more than likely. None of those people who chased girls and threw rocks would actually stand up to Vamdemon. None of them could even consider it. Why bother?

Miyako looked at the others. _This isn't fair! Our parents can't pay for this! And what are we getting attacked for anyway?_ And it was punishing everyone for the actions of a few, powerful people. She turned it over for a while, chewing on her lip to keep herself from venting at the wrong people. "Do we get anything in return?" they all looked up and she continued. "Other governments too. There are Chosen everywhere! We need to ask them if they have the same problem. Then we can argue for the same standards everywhere, because that's a little too… much, you know?"

Ken nodded, catching on. "if we're still going to be attacked for leaving our houses, we need to be compensated. Otherwise, the people we are helping are put into danger as well."

Koushiro and Taichi nodded in agreement. "It's fine for us to help people," Taichi said, voice thoughtful. "Least we can do, if we can do it. But if they think we're still stupid kids who will bow our heads, they have another thing coming." He paused. "Let's all still talk to our parents though. They might come up with better solutions and counterarguments than us before we send back a reply."

They hopefully could. After all, they were _parents._

* * *

Miyako, lucky or unlucky for her, also had a brother and sisters. None of them were directly related to Digimon, not yet. They had a little distance, and that was enough to help her ask them. She still dragged her feet home to do it, Poromon in her arms. He was very quiet, as he had been since they had left the meeting.

Which really hadn't been much of a meeting. More of a debriefing with some yelling mixed in. They had all left after making promises to keep each other posted because real life continued on and they had exams and homework and practice and class. All of these things that almost made these people's anger irrelevant simply due to being alive.

Almost, but not quite.

"Poromon?" she said as she walked, spotting the lights on in the shop through the boards. "What do you think?"

Poromon sat against her chest and didn't answer. Figuring he was distracted, she opened her mouth to repeat it a little louder, but then he responded with, "Humans are very strange, Miyako-san. Certainly they are hurt, but weren't you? We, Digimon, hurt you, but you love us and our world, don't you?"

She stopped walking. Her brow furrowed and she thought of Ken, his maniacal laughter and evil rings, of BlackWarGreymon's desperation, of BelialVamdemon's brutal murder. She thought of Takeru and Hikari, attacked as small kids, of Oikawa becoming butterflies in the wind.

"Yeah," she said to him. "We were and we do, but…" She grumbled a little. "That doesn't mean anything, I guess… argh, I didn't think being a Chosen Child would get _this_ complicated."

Weren't they supposed to be heroes? Weren't they supposed to be people who made things better for others? People who saved the world?! Hadn't they done what they were supposed to do?

Suddenly, Miyako didn't want to go home. She would only snap at her family, which didn't help. So she kept walking. Poromon didn't complain, but she might not have listened this time even if he had.

Her eyes fell on random people. Most ignored her, going about their routines like there was nothing wrong. Like Poromon wasn't even there. They talked to shopmakers, ran through streets. Everything was fine.

Except, now that she was looking, some were watching her. Or rather, watching a stiff Poromon in her arms. She scowled behind lavender hair. Where did they get off doing that? Nothing was happening! Nothing was wrong here! They were just walking-

"Miyako-san?"

Miyako's eyes opened and Hikari was on the crosswalk, Tailmon about her shoulders and bag in her arms. She was getting just as many looks.

Miyako grinned weakly. "Hikari-chan! Hey!" She crossed to meet her. "I thought you went to get your essay done."

"Ahaha," Hikari laughed. "It was a bit easier than it looked and hearing Mom and Dad and Onii-chan talk got to be too much after a while. I just needed some air."

Miyako could definitely relate. "Me too. Wanna join me?"

Hikari smiled a little more and for a moment, she could almost ignore the bags under her friend's eyes. Tailmon twitched but that was all. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all." She turned the way Hikari probably hadn't come from and they walked together, ignoring the whispers and just talking. As friends did. The Digimon were quiet, but then, why would they want to socialize right now? These guys hated them.

Hikari stopped abruptly, looking out at the water below. "Do you think these people are being unfair?"

The _yes_ was right on her tongue and Miyako felt it slip out. "We saved them."

"But we didn't save everyone." Hikari's voice was was measured only by her fingers in Tailmon's fur. "We did what we could, but it wasn't perfect."

"It couldn't have been, Hikari." Tailmon said from her shoulder. "That's not your responsibility. That is no one's responsibility. And perhaps we… we do need to help with the aftermath, but…" She nosed her partner's cheek.

Poromon looked up at Miyako. "Miyako-san… this world is very confusing."

Miyako nodded. It should be easy to want to help people, easy to accept this as a part of being a Chosen Child. But how was being sneered at and attacked _easy_?

Then both Digimon tensed, and their D-3s beeped wildly, glowing and sparking in the setting sun.

Miyako looked up, as though drawn to it, and for a moment something flickered in the sky. Like an island, right side up, crumbling to pieces. The sky shuddered, turning purple-yellow-black, before the colors returned to normal and the strange island was gone.

What even _was_ that?

"Miyako-san!" Hikari-chan's voice pulled her from her surprise and she looked over where the girl was pointing.

A small child stood on the water, feet barely rippling below. She seemed barely Iori's age, pale skin covered in rags bar the purple hat atop her head. She swore she saw something swish by her legs. Then, the girl dropped into the water, a large splash in the middle of the river.

Poromon squawked and Hikari didn't even think, rushing over the railing with Miyako just behind her. Together, they pulled the young girl's body out and Miyako rushed to a payphone.

Hikari checked her pulse, then made the girl spit water, as Taichi had taught her to do.

As she did so, however, the purple hat went and flopped to the ground, too heavy to stay on.

Hikari yelped and Tailmon hissed. Miyako came back just in time to see the little girl's purple and white furry ears twitch in unison with a similar looking tail.

Miyako gaped for one moment, then rushed to put the cap back on and lay the girl back. They couldn't have this. The Chosen Children were already in the spotlight, now they had a fox girl.

She had to call the others, right? They could figure this out.

Hopefully. The parents _definitely_ couldn't help with this.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Oh look, here I go again, with the crossovers and the suffering. I love it. Please read and review. I really appreciate it.

Challenges: Three Sided Box hard level, Advent Calendar 2016, Epic Masterclass (interseason) 8. Not-So-Secret Santa, 100 Prompts, 100 MCs Challenge prompt 'tense', Interseason Big Bang on the DFC.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two - Shoujo (Girl)_

It was easier to hide the ears than the tail, but just as fruitless. When the ambulance arrived, someone shouted like an idiot and got everyone looking until Tailmon hissed at them so loudly that they fled. It would have been funny if it weren't for the actual people called to help refusing to go near her.

"You're medical professionals!" Miyako finally snapped at them, hair almost flying. "Don't you have an oath or something that requires you to help people?!"

They all stared at her before one, young enough and stupid enough to not recognize the danger, spoke up. "We're authorized to treat humans, not _this_." They gestured to the girl as she breathed rapidly, fingers twitching.

Miyako felt her hair stand on end. Already? Just a year of time and _that_ was the response? Granted, this wasn't normal but this was still a little girl! "Put her in that ambulance! You-"

"Please." She turned to the sound of Hikari's voice. The girl's face was too calm for her liking, but then, that was Hikari. "If you keep her here and she gets worse or dies, people will see her. There will be talks and rumors. People are probably headed here right now. We can't risk that, right?"

More hesitation. Then two went to grab a stretcher while others began their examination.

Miyako almost relaxed but she watched Hikari stare at the doctors with the same expression the girl tended to give evil forces.

Of course. This wasn't over.

* * *

There were whispers all through the hospital by the time Taichi, Koushiro, and Jou arrived, as nobody's parents were off of work yet. The sounds latched onto them instead. All three looked at each other. Joe grimaced and adjusted his glasses.

Miyako sat with Poromon by the entrance. Much as she had wanted to be in the room, Tailmon hissed at everyone that came close and Hikari's eyes had looked a lot less soft and gentle than normal. So, she had reasoned, she could explain things to whoever got here. Or she could try anyway. At least her anger could burn out fast. No one had any idea what happened if Hikari got really truly upset and _no one_ wanted to find out.

Koushiro approached her first, while Taichi went to the front desk. People looked away, perhaps because they didn't have their partners on them. Miyako wasn't sure if she cared why. If she let go of Poromon for even a second, she had the very ugly feeling she would turn and hurt someone. She managed to grin at Koushiro.

"Thanks for coming," she said. Poromon waved a wing.

"And without such rudeness," he added, at which point Miyako cracked a real smile.

Koushiro nodded, expression stiff even as Jou joined Taichi at the counter. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw them both talk, just talk, peacefully. Or something like that. She hurried to explain everything, which admittedly wasn't much. It still had Koushiro tapping his foot.

Then Hikari poked her head out. "She's awake."

Miyako hopped to her feet and went to look. Did that girl have any family? No one had come for her so far and she had appeared out of well. Nowhere. So she must have nothing, no one to turn to.

A lump formed in her throat.

How many people have been left that way by them? Did they exist in both worlds?

"Miyako-san?" she looked up at Hikari, who smiled a little. "She's got sensitive ears."

Miyako remembered the twitching ears and almost let out a high-pitched snort. No kidding.

The group crowded into the too-small room (And Miyako felt that hot-cold rage light up in her again) and saw her sitting in the hospital gown. Her purple eyes flickered to them.

Taichi moved over, looking now as soft as his hair. "Hey there." he grinned at her. "How you feeling?"

Her ears twitched freely, hat relegated to in her arms. She stared at him, befuddled. "How…?

"Bit of a dumb question," the older teen admitted. "But, hey, it's an ice breaker. What's your name, kiddo?"

The girl didn't answer, mouthing Taichi's words slowly for a few moments. Then she murmured a sound. "Sayo." Despite the quiet of her voice, her tone was firm. Miyako watched her senior grin with pride, like this was his sibling instead of a stranger girl with weird ears. Mantarou would do this, Miyako thought. He would do this for me all of the time.

"Nice name," Taichi said. "Nice ears." which was something you said every day.

The girl flushed and for a moment, it seemed like she was going to shrink into herself, to hide them from view. Then she nodded, murmuring a thank you.

Miyako would have felt more fascinated by the whole thing if she weren't still annoyed at the people outside. Tailmon's ears kept twitching, her blue eyes narrowed and fixed on beyond the door The girl's ears twitched themselves and she said nothing. Sayo kept her chin up, but Miyako, having grown up with brothers and sisters and

"Ignore them!" All of them froze, even Miyako herself when they realized _she_ had been the one who had spoken. Poromon stared at her before giving her a small peck on the arm. She blushed, almost stopping mid-sentence. Sayo peered at her, ears slightly back (and now that she thought about it, it really was weird and different. It was also a little scary because no one had seen this before. But that didn't matter. This was a little girl, seriously.) "We won't let them do anything to you, right Poromon?"

Poromon was only truly surprised for a moment. Then he puffed up, feathers and all. "Of course not," he huffed. "If they are to show us disdain for the harm we have caused this world, then they too should be held accountable for their actions."

Perhaps it was the proud look on the pink Digimon was wearing, but the puzzled and wary expression on the little patient's face dissolved into loud laughter and a crack of a smile. A flicker of pride rose in MIyako's chest.

Okay, so, so this was doable. She really was just a kid. The trouble now was getting everyone else to look at her that way.

* * *

"A kid with fox ears."

Mantarou's voiced disbelief almost popped the hopeful bubble in MIyako's chest. Almost. She had a little bravado left from after talking to the young girl some more. Though she hadn't said anything about the island in the sky that had appeared with her, nor what her life had been like, she had been willing to talk about her favorite food (oranges), that she could sew, and that she hated being cold, among other, small things.

Someone had had the slightly insulting idea of giving her a coloring book and some crayons, which had brought so much unfiltered wonder than it had any right to. Then again, perhaps that was a sign of things in wherever she used to live.

Before she could say anything however, Momoe looked up from her notes and shot him a look. "You watch anime, Mantarou. Don't tell me you've never seen that."

"Just because it exists in anime doesn't mean it should be in real life without a couple of questions, Momoe," he shot back, never the less looking slightly less bothered than he would have if Miyako had said anything. Siblings. He patted the Digimon in his lap, of course being the only one aside from Miyako to get one.

"You didn't question Digimon," Miyako fired, because seriously, who cared? There was a little kid who lit up because they got crayons and they were all worried about some fuzz?

 _Well yes, because what else could they have?_

Miyako noted that her inner logic sounded like Ken when he had pretended to be the Kaiser to stop Daisuke from doing something stupid* and she needed to hurry up and change that as soon as possible.

Though her common sense sounding like Ken could be worse.

"Well, yeah, because we found out because you had one-"

Momoe said something before she could and like true sibling rapport, Chizuru fired back and within minutes, Miyako tuned back in and realized they weren't even arguing about the mysterious kid anymore. She had missed the jump to ice skaters and whether the Olympics would be worth it next year. Miyako had no stake in that game. She barely kept track of Apple products and the latest computers. She didn't have much time for sports. Digimon were enough exercise.

"I'm gonna head up and finish my homework," she announced, making sure for it to be as dramatic and debate breaking as possible. "Let me know if dinner's ready."

Her siblings gave various responses of agreement (Kapurimon promised to eat her dinner, which really wasn't surprising in the least) and she trooped upstairs. As she walked, Miyako remembered the man screaming for his wife and the people following them with her eyes. That was probably going to be this little kid now, no matter what happened.

There had to be something she could do about it, surely, but what?

"Poromon?" She sat at her desk, attempting to take her notebook out and do something like homework (probably wouldn't get anywhere, but she could hope.

He looked up at her from the crackers he had stolen from her bookshelf (she couldn't get mad at him, they were actually going stale…) "Yes?"

Miyako sat back and chewed on her eraser, searching for words that could sum everything in one cool-sounding quote. "This world is pretty weird, isn't it?"

"Miyako-san, I could have told you that." The squeak of the pink bird's voice was a failure at hiding his amusement not that she could really blame him for it or his voice box. It was still funny. "You tell me that about the Digital World all of the time."

"Yeah, but it's different if I say it." Miyako puffed up her chest, then sighed. "Why is this all so complicated? I thought i had _years_ before these things started to be a problem…"

"Miyako-san?"

Miyako set her chewed pencil onto a tissue and moved to flop down upon her bed. "everything. Just… what we want to do. What we did to save the world. What we do now. Didn't the adults cause a lot of this? But we have to pick it up, right? We can't do anything about this, right? Even that girl…"

Sayo couldn't stay in the hospital forever. Where could she go? What would be done with her? What if she was poked and prodded with needles and tugged at and interrogated? Sure, that was on tv, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen.

"Miyako-san."

She rolled over to look at Poromon. "Mm?"

He fluttered closer to her. "what do you _want_ to do?"

Well. She always had trouble figuring that out. Miyako let out a small sigh and rolled onto her back, blowing her purple hair from her face with a too large sigh. Poromon settled on her stomach. She hoped the girl would have a restful night, at least. A kid who fainted in the water would need that much.

The next morning, young Sayo's face, drawn back with fright, was all over the news. It was plastered on every news station, ears in full view. She was pictured in bed, sheet drawn up. It looked helpless, but Miyako didn't need better glasses to notice the glint, bright and cold and possibly deadly.

That was all people needed. That was all they wanted.

Miyako swallowed a too big bite of toast and ran out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three - Mono (One)_

Miyako actually tore down the stairs, foregoing the elevator in her haste to just get where she needed to be. There were a few whispers about her as she ran, some about her but Miyako ignored them as much as she had to deny Poromon's irritated squawks for a few minutes, at least until she got to a stop light. She would regret it later, she knew, stomping out of the house without explanation, causing a fuss, rocking the boat, whatever it needed to be called. It didn't matter, they were going to ruin this kid for no reason and hadn't that happened enough?

She wasn't repeating that out loud, nope, not her.

As she fidgeted from foot to foot, it snuck into her brain that she still hadn't talked about this whole thing with her family. Ugh! She mussed up her hair and groaned loudly enough to disturb the businessman on his phone.

The light took long enough for her to almost start dancing in place, and also long enough for her friends to catch up to her.

"Miyako-san, I appreciate the hurry but…" Takeru began, pausing for air as the light changed. Miyako paused in mid-step, heavy frown threatening to turn into a Mimi-trained glare. "We shouldn't go barging in there."

"You mean like those reporters did into a hospital room."

"It's a public area…" Iori said, getting his air back first because he was Iori and had more stamina than _Daisuke_ sometimes. "They have every right to be there…"

"And we don't?" SHe moved off the crosswalk and Iori grabbed her arm.

"They don't want us there, Miyako-san," he said. His voice was still breathless from running. "We'll just make it worse for her. You understand, right?"

How could they make it worse? She was already a freak and a monster to them. She was already being overstimulated like Chizuru got sometimes, She remembered days where her bubbly sister would just go silent enough to terrify the gravestones and sit through a crowd and remember none of what was said. She didn't even have to think back very far to pull the images to mind. It would only get worse. It would. And then what? Would a kid attack someone?

Probably. If it made everything stop.

She shook her head free of those thoughts. "If I go, I can at least get them out of the room."

"And the rumor mill will start flying." Takeru straightened. "We have no idea what's going on. We shouldn't…" he hesitated. "IF they think she's a digimon, Miyako-san, they'll want proof, of any kind. And she's not a citizen as far as we know. There's, there's no legal way we could stop them."

Miyako paused. Her brain spun like a top, wind expanding, mind unfurling. Then, she smiled. "Bingo! I've got it!"

Iori and Takeru shot each other a worried look.

Miyako didn't notice, pride twisting her nose up. This would take some doing, begging, and careful work, but if this worked, at least two birds would be hit with one stone. Maybe even three!

* * *

This world wasn't quiet at all.

Sayo had thought it would be, thought it would be softer and gentler, or that the bustle would be bearable. She'd barely been on Earth twenty-four hours and already she wanted to be gone again. This wasn't her home.

Her eyes watered and she wiped them with her thumb. On the other side of the door, she heard the hushed conversation of the nurses. SHe scowled at the sound. Then she shivered and knocked the expression away. Those loud people, with their flashing lights and screaming mics had tried to get her to smile. Like humans did. Well, earth humans. She knew they couldn't all be alike. The Chosen Ones weren't, but then, the Chosen Ones were special. They had to be, to save the world. She knew that. It didn't make anything any easier to bear, of course, but knowing that helped her sleep at night,

Of course, the streetlamps here were too bright. Or maybe she was just being sensitive.

She sniffled and looked at the crayons. Her fingers itched for them again, but a woman had smacked them away in favor of her microphone and probing. She looked at the door, where no one came form again, but shook her head. She couldn't chance it. These people were strange. Sayo sniffled again, coiling up on herself to loosen the stiffness on her tail. The pain in her back eased eagerly and she rolled onto her side. She thought of the loud voice of the girl with purple hair, so much like her own. Her insistence, her forced look.

She was probably scared. Sayo couldn't blame her. Apparently someone like her was unusual. She supposed that was fine. After all, it was better than lying about it. The nurses were liars. The reporters, even more so. Home had barely bothered with reporters. THe gossip grapevine was too pervasive to pay someone for it. How could this many loud and noisy people have jobs and not hurt anyone? Maybe they just thought they didn't?

The door opened and Sayo tensed up, fuzz fluffing out. In stepped a man with wheat-blonde hair, lighter than Litton's. He had a chiseled face that made her think of the old shopkeeper's photographs, black and white and of wheat fields and boys.

"Hello there," he greeted. "May I?"

Sayo nodded slowly. He lacked a camera or a mic, but that thing remained around his neck.

The man nodded and sat in the plastic chair like the older boys had. "My name is Ishida Hiroaki. Ishida Yamato, one of my boys, is a CHosen Child." At Sayo's sharp exhale, he smiled. "That means something to you."

"We hear their stories," she said after a moment. "S- The person who teaches us Japanese sometimes brings up people who know the stories. They're heroes, sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" The man laughed. He wasn't looking at her ears. Or maybe he didn't care. "That's not a good thing for a father to hear."

"I wouldn't know." The blunt words made her face burn. "Ah, I…" He waved a large hand away.

"I have boys," he said with a chuckle. "SOme of the time. My oldest son tends to be a bit too revealing for his own good sometimes." He sat back a bit. "What do Chosen mean to you beyond that? THey're heroes."

"Sometimes." Sayo squirmed a bit. "It depends on who you ask."

"It always does." The man sat back and his fingers flickered at an object that wasn't really there. It was probably a lighter. "Do you like them? Hearing about them?"

The girl stared at him. Sayo cleared her throat and took sip of water from the nearby glass. "I… I beg your pardon?"

The man laughed, a bit hoarsely. She smelled cigarettes, now more than ever. "What is it like?" Being the ones left to admire their feats. You live in that world, right?"

Sayo's tail twitched against her spine. He didn't seem to be really making fun of her, only curious, as all of the adults were curious. At least he was quieter than the rest. And she supposed she would have to tell everyone anyway.

"Not really," she finally said. "This world's children get praised for the same things we do every day. They're a symbol of hope for the Digital World and that's good, but… why aren' we?" She tugged at one of her ears. "Why am I a petting zoo animal? This is just what I am."

"Because humans are fickle creatures." Ishida Hiroaki said with a sigh. "Because man does not look very far. Speaking from experience." He was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Looks like my time's up. You'll be getting out of here soon."

Sayo reached to pull up the sheets again, purple eyes staring at him through their thin fabric. "What will happen to me next?"

"I would tell you if I knew. You'll probably be given to one of our families, if you're lucky."

She wasn't sure if that would be luck or a miracle, or worst of all, a calamity.

* * *

Sayo awoke hours later to being able to breathe again. She sighed softly and looked outside. Floatier hovered on just out of reach of the Tokyo skyscrapers. She could almost imagine touching it, breaking off a piece.

 _I need to get out of here._

She had to find her fallen Digivice, wherever it was. If someone else got a hold of it, it would cause disaster, not in the least because of what Lunamon would do. Once she had it, well… she'd think of something. There was probably a computer somewhere that could get her to the Digital World. If she could at least get back there, she could help manage the crisis before everyone got Gated out.

That was wishful thinking. She twitched in her seat at the ambitious idea. Then the door opened. Her ears and tail stood straight up. _I thought this country was really obsessed with manners. Is knocking not one of them?_

She returned her face to its nervous expression as fast as possible. It wasn't like the face was a lie, right? In walked in one of the Chosen, that one with purple hair. What was her name again?

"Hey," the girl said before she could ask. Sayo didn't flinch this time, she was a lot quieter today. Or maybe that was just because she was catching her breath. "Can you move around?"

What the heck kind of question was that? "... Yes," she finally said, fixing the other with a stare.

The girl grinned. "Good. So that means we can get you out of here. You're coming to my house now to stay. Otherwise, they're gonna lock you up or something."

Like that person had warned her about. "You're… taking me in?"

"Yep. Me, my parents, and my siblings." she handed Sayo a bag with clothes. "We have a nice size house too!"

Sayo hadn't even been _thinking_ about that. She took the clothes slowly and let the girl turn away. MIyako. That was her name. She remembered now. "... Miyako-san?"

The girl jumped, surprise etching onto her features. "Yeah?"

"Why are you doing this? You have no obligation to do so."

Miyako waited until Sayo had finished changing her clothes before answering. "Should I not be?"

Sayo reached for the hat left on her bedside table. "I don't know. You don't want to be placed with burdens that these people are giving you, right?"

"That sounds like something Iori-kun would say." Miyako grinned as she turned around. "But he wouldn't, because he knows me better than you do.I want to do this because i want to, you see. And I don't like it, seeing you locked up in a room and things like that. If that was Poromon, I'd absolutely lose it. Wouldn't you, if that was your DIgimon?"

Sayo nodded a little. Yes, that made sense. It was more out of some altruistic reason that had nothing to do with her, just like the stories said. It had nothing to do with Sayo herself. That was… probably for the best. "I have a Digimon."

"Really?" For some reason this caused Miyako to suddenly get very close to her personal bubble. Sayo wasn't sure if she liked that. People at home tended to avoid getting too close, too many weapons that she now did not have.

She swallowed, trying to not let her entire body radiate discomfort. "I need to find her. Lunamon's probably worried about me."

Miyako tilted her head. "I've never heard of that one… maybe Koushiro-san has. Anyway, we'll help you find her once you get to sleep in a bed that doesn't smell like this room."

Sayo worried her lip. Too fast. She was too close, too fast. THe stories made them out this way, kind and helpful and good, but the reality was that that was impossible. If they were good people, surely they would know, right?

She touched her ears. "You've… you're doing enough…" She searched for words.

Miyako beamed. "It's okay! It's seriously fine! I don't want someone to like, kidnap you or anything. Okay?"

Cheerful but stubborn. Cornered by the immense amount of enthusiasm, Sayo nodded.


End file.
